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Haven’t wrote down your goal yet? Quick, grab a sticky note!

There’s awesome moments, not-so-awesome moments, and some pretty great learnings in life that led you be the you, you are today. So what’s this to do with being likely to achieve your goal?

It’s all about achievement in goals. Backing up any successful moment is a series of “if this, then that” scenarios, a couple roadblocks and head scratchers, and a lot of awesome “hell yah’s!” The simple act of writing down what you want to achieve helps you make the most of these steps.

But isn’t it motivation that makes great goals happen?

The first thing most of us think about when we consider how to achieve our goals is needing a nugget of motivation to get us there. What you weren’t expecting to hear is that motivation isn’t exactly what you should focus on. Motivation is actually just an outcome of achievement. The act of writing down your goal leads to a series of next steps, which result in motivation.

Writing down your goal gives you a jumpstart – it is your first, and most important step in committing to your goal. By writing things down, you’re committing to exactly when and where you intended to put in effort. To no surprise, this results in motivation!

Just start with a sentence.

Achievement of goals starts with a simple sentence. What are you going to do when you leave work? Let’s go with mail that Christmas card to your family. Write down how you’re going to achieve this: Today after work I will mail the Christmas card to my Mom at the grocery store on my way to the subway station.

You’ve outlined in that one sentence what you need to do to achieve your goal (mailing the card). You’ve outlined when (today after work) and where you’ll achieve this (at the grocery store on the way to the subway station).

By writing down what you want to achieve, you’re pre-committing to make things actually happen. And did you know that people who write down their goals are 50% more likely to achieve them? It’s true!